Ebola

I can feel the temperature starting to heat up as we approach the changing of seasons from dry to wet. There’s no spring, summer, fall, winter here. I heard someone refer to Kinshasa as the land of the eternal summer. Mid September is supposedly when the rains start, but surprisingly we had a rain three weeks ago. Of course I slept through it all, but it was enough of a rain that the ground was still quite wet in the morning, and the clay court was too wet for tennis at 9:30 am on Saturday.

In the last few weeks I’ve received fun treats at the DPO (Diplomatic Post Office)! I know it may seem unremarkable, but there is something about mail and packages when you’re far from home that brightens the week. I was like a kid at Christmas. Not only have I received four editions of the Platte Enterprise, one of my local home newspapers, but also one had a photo of my niece with her softball team. I was overjoyed! Additionally, the case of tennis balls I ordered from Amazon.com arrived.  I paid $10 for the one can I bought here in Kinshasa and thus thought it wise to stock up. Thanks to my dearly beloved friends Patty and Norm, I received a sizeable box of treats from Trader Joe’s…THANK YOU!

My boxes arrived in decent shape except for one from NetGrocer. That sad box looked like someone had kicked it down the street into on-coming traffic. It was a disaster and the container of oatmeal inside clearly paid the price as I left a trail of oats as I wheeled the boxes to the self-drive vehicle I’m currently renting from the Embassy. Luckily, most of my items made the journey from the U.S. to the Congo; however, there were a couple “missing” items. I guess I’m not the only one who loves Tostitos Scoops and mandarin oranges.

As many of you know, I have “unique” food preferences which mostly revolve around what I don’t eat as opposed to what I do eat. There are just certain foods that I find unappealing like tomatoes, mushrooms, cantaloupe, and coconut, but I’m happy to pick around them. However, other foods are deal breakers like cilantro, fish, lamb, and goat cheese. There’s just no picking around that!

As much as I am finicky about food, what’s worse is that I have no interest in cooking which is hardly an issue in the U.S. In the last two cities in which I’ve lived – Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles – there are an infinite number of restaurants, cafes, food trucks, farmer’s markets, grocery stores, etc. I had my choice of options for avoiding cooking…not so much here in Kinshasa. Currently, I am surviving on a diet of mainly junk food, mixed with a ton of carbohydrates, and a lot of Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter, which I need to reorder. While there are a variety of restaurants, I would go broke if I ate out every day. I may go broke…

Many of my co-workers on numerous occasions have suggested that I get a domestique (housekeeper), but I’m not yet comfortable with that idea for many reasons. Mainly, I’m not fond of having strangers in my house when I’m not there, and I would feel like a lazy, privileged American if I had someone cooking/cleaning for me. Perhaps I should just accept that I’m a lazy, privileged American…hmmmm.

Thanks to a new British acquaintance, it was brought to my attention that there is an equestrian center, Cercle Hippique, in Kinshasa! Who would have thought, right? After going for a visit to see the grounds, I decided I wanted to go for a ride, and in order to do that, you’re required to take a lesson. I guess it’s the center’s method of both keeping the money coming in as well as doing a little quality control before they allow you to gallop off into the distance on their horses.

Having ridden horses all my life, I had no concerns that I would pass this test with flying colors even if it was in an English saddle. However, I hadn’t given any consideration to the possibility that I might need an operator’s manual to get the horse to respond in the manner I hoped he would. Almost everything was opposite of what I’ve done for my entire horse riding life!

·         English: Hold the reins extremely tight and short so that there is constant pressure on the horse’s mouth. (Western translation: Hold the reins as you would if you wanted your horse to stop or back up.)

·         English: Post when your horse is trotting. (Lift and lower your butt into and out of the saddle seat when the horse is trotting which is polar opposite of what you do in western riding.)

·         English Saddle:

·         Western Saddle:

·  I don’t even want to talk about the difference in attire!

Despite the challenges, I evidently succeeded in proving that I have enough riding skills to go for a ballade (ride out on the property)…if I want to become a member or if a member invites me along at a limit of once a month.

Last but certainly not least, Ebola has arrived. It has surfaced in the province of Equateur which is approximately 700 km away from Kinshasa. You can read about it in the news if you’re interested.  I hope for the sake of this country that the cases can be contained and the DRC will not be dealt a blow like that of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Nigeria.

Before I sign off I’d like to send out a few special shout outs. Congratulations to Scotty and Sarah and Shaun and Li for sealing the deal and becoming woman and husband! Woo Hoo! Happy Anniversary John and Nat and good luck with the half marathon Nat Pack. Patty, Julie, JaSheika, JaNeika, Seema, and Tess, thank you for the constant love and laughter on What’s App.

Happy long weekend everyone.